Over Christmas you get a lot of recommendations for things you’ve never heard (of). Mostly they’re disappointing either because you expected too much or they’re so wide of the mark it’s embarrassing to realize you’re not on the same page at all with the person recommending.

But in the following cases I did track down examples on You Tube. I did make the effort and I list them here if only to record my sincere curiosity.

Heifetz – Austrian Prog Rock duo with wry humour.Alcest – French Prog Rock with strong Medievelist tinge – think Jethro Tull meets Hawkwind . I know they have a semi-cool following (BBC session etc) but this set just got a little too mellow for me.Agolloch – Oregon-based band with kindred tendencies – I’m calling this Hippy Metal but I couldn’t go there guys.

All three of these suggestions via Sci-Fi author Lucius Shepard’s Facebook page.

Young Knives – English Indie Pop I’d vaguely heard of, got around to their album Sick Octave from 2013 and wanted to like them but something about the vocals/lyrics just grated. I think they suffer from trying too hard to be cute. Instrumentally, they sounded good though…